Sentencing in Silicone death

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http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0803/01silicone.html

Transgender sentenced in Miami woman's silicone death

The Associated Press

AP Donnie "Viva" Hendrix is handcuffed after he was sentenced to five years in prison by Broward Circuit Judge Weinstein.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A transgender man who helped perform silicone injections around the country has been sentenced to five years in prison in the "pumping party" death of a Miami woman.

Broward Circuit Judge Weinstein gave Donnie "Viva" Hendrix the maximum sentence Wednesday for his role in the death of secretary Vera Lawrence.

"The dangerous, high-risk behavior outweighs any mitigating factors," Weinstein said.

Hendrix, 34, was part of a team that performed the back-alley cosmetic procedures to enlarge body parts, popular in the transgender community.

Lawrence, who wanted to enhance her buttocks, died two years ago in a Miramar apartment where Hendrix and partner Mark Hawkins were pumping people with silicone.

Hendrix was convicted of practicing medicine without a license. Hawkins, convicted of third-degree murder, faces 15 years in prison when he is sentenced later this year.

Hendrix will get credit for having spent the last two years in jail, during which he says he was assaulted to the point that he needed a double-mastectomy.

Hendrix's attorney, Reres, said his client would have been allowed in a women's prison had he undergone planned surgery to complete the sex change -- canceled when he was arrested.

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Information from: The Miami Herald, http://www.herald.com